Over 2000

This weekend saw the 2000th death in the war in Afghanistan. I believe another three were killed right after we hit that horrible mark again blue on green violence. The current trend in the murder of our soldiers in the region has been for Afghan soldiers or police to turn and kill. Unfortunately this is a tactic that will be difficult to stop due to the culture of deception that is bred in the Jihadist Muslim. The Koran has a verse which they interpret to mean that lying to an infidel is morally correct. This religious permitted sin will make it difficult to vet those enlisting in the Afghan security forces. I question whether the Afghans have the heart or the stomach to want to be civilized or free or modern. Could a people live so long under oppression that they actually depend on it? Could tyranny be just to ingrained in there psyche that they are helplessly programed to be slaves?

I have heard that during the long captivity by our POW's in Vietnam a similar phenomena took place. That after the many years of constant brutality and torture, the soldiers never expected any better and just decided to exist instead of live. So the question that has been asked over the years needs to be asked again. Is it worth it? Have we given enough or too much to the endeavor to bring some sense of liberty to a country that may not want to be liberated? Over two thousand lives, billions of dollars the American heart seems to know no bounds. I subscribe on Facebook to the ISAF NATO forces in Afghanistan. A picture this morning is swaying me to say yes it is worth it. The image below of children running to what I am assuming is a school. What is more powerful is that fact that it is a little girl running to school. Who will she be if we stay? That's up to her.  What will happen to her for certain if we leave is she will lead as a second class citizen, no better than a slave.

Pax Americanus. If there is such a thing we should give others the ability to translate that peace into their own language. I am not suggesting a Pax Romanus where we conquer to create peace. What I am suggesting is war to allow freedom to take root. I believe in American exceptionalism. I feel that our way of life has improve human beings lives on a global scale. So a little exporting of baseball and apple pie and democracy doesn't bother me not one bit. Make the sacrifice that those young men and women worth it by staying the course and giving freedom a chance to not only take root but bloom.